Gerard Pique & Iker Casillas share awkward spat in Spain training

Tired of talking about Brexit? Well so are we. That is why we're here. There will be no mention of any referendum of any sort in this article. Not from now on, at least. Welcome to the world of Spanish football.

Spain's national squad went into Euro 2016 as one of the favourites. As double-holding champions, Vicente del Bosque can assume that anything other than a semi-final will be met by disdain all the way from San Sebastien to Cadiz.

But so far they have been unable to match their previous performances. They finished second in their group, behind Croatia, and must now face Italy in the Round of 16. Needless to say, tension is tight amongst the Spanish players.

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That may be why Barcelona's Gerard Pique and Porto's Iker Casillas seemed to have a little falling out in a routine training session on Thursday. The centre-back tried to nutmeg Casillas during a 'piggy in the middle' exercise but failed. Casillas didn't take too kindly to the attempt and proceeded to slap him in the face.

It was one of those moments of complete unease. Immediately, it looks like a bit of playful banter but on closer inspection, it is clear that neither of the players are laughing or even smiling.

The video

Close friends

It is unlikely they were coming to blows, however, simply because we know the pair share a pretty close relationship off the field. Despite Casillas being a Madrid legend and Pique being a firm advocate of Catalan independence – and therefore public enemy No.1 in the capital – the pair have stayed close.

That much is evident from the fact that the pair sat and watched the Champions League final together. Casillas recently told the Spanish press how that went down.

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